# F. William Grube

> F. William Grube (1947-2020), known as Bill, co-founded the modern Calumet with Fred M. Fehsenfeld Jr. in 1990 and served as CEO until 2015. A Rose-Hulman chemical engineering graduate with a Harvard MBA and prior experience at Rock Island Refining, he helped expand a single-asset specialty refiner into a publicly traded Fortune 500 company. He subsequently served as executive vice chairman. His daughter Jennifer Straumins was a Calumet executive and later its Grube family board representative.

- **Role:** Business founder and petroleum refining executive
- **Organizations:** Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P., Calumet GP, LLC, Rock Island Refining Corporation, Legacy Resources, Monument Chemical Company, Grube Family Foundation
- **From:** Indianapolis, United States
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led the modern Calumet for 25 years as CEO., Helped grow Calumet from one specialty refining asset to 14 manufacturing facilities and over $5 billion in annual sales by the 2015 CEO transition., Calumet completed more than a dozen acquisitions in its first 25 years.

## Career timeline

- **Before 1990** — Worked at Rock Island Refining Corporation; Calumet’s 2015 biography describes service as executive vice president from 1973 to 1989.
- **1990** — Co-founded the modern Calumet with Fred M. Fehsenfeld Jr. and became president and CEO.
- **2001** — Calumet acquired the Shreveport refinery.
- **2006** — Led Calumet through its initial public offering and Nasdaq listing.
- **2008** — Calumet acquired Penreco.
- **2012** — Calumet acquired Royal Purple and Montana Refining.
- **2014** — Calumet entered the Fortune 500.
- **2015-04-01** — Became executive vice chairman; Bill Hatch became interim CEO.
- **2020-11-24** — Died aged 73.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led the modern Calumet for 25 years as CEO.
- Helped grow Calumet from one specialty refining asset to 14 manufacturing facilities and over $5 billion in annual sales by the 2015 CEO transition.
- Calumet completed more than a dozen acquisitions in its first 25 years.
- Led Calumet during its 2006 public listing and 2014 entry into the Fortune 500.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Jennifer Straumins announced she would not seek re-election to Calumet’s board and thanked her late father, Bill Grube, for the opportunity to work with and learn from him.
- **2021-02** — Jennifer Straumins was elected to replace her late father on the board of Calumet GP, LLC, effective February 12.

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/f-william-grube
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Last updated: 2026-10-23